De-Training

HOW QUICKLY DOES THE DREADED DECLINE IN CONDITIONING OCCUR WHEN YOU STOP EXERCISING?

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IF THERE’S ONE THING HIGHLY ACTIVE INDIVIDUALS AND SERIOUS ATHLETES HATE MOST, IT’S TIME AWAY FROM TRAINING.

Whether it’s due to work commitments, family responsibilities, a business trip or, worse, a layoff due to injury, every day of training missed tends to fill us with fear that we may be losing those hard-fought gains.

But just how concerned (and neurotic) should we be about a few days off? How long does it really take before we start to lose any significant amount of fitness, strength or muscle mass? We consulted the lab coats to give you definitive answers...

LOST IN STAGNATION

In a process commonly referred to as de-training, when you stop exercising for an extended period of time, a number of physiological changes happen inside your body and, in particular, within muscle cells.

However, the rate at which these changes occur depend on a number of factors, including genetics and, most importantly, a person's training history. Based on a large body of scientific evidence, individuals who have been training for longer will experience a slower rate of decline than beginners. As an example, one study found that well-trained endurance athletes (runners, cyclists and swimmers) who abstained from all exercise lost, on average, about 50% of their training-induced gains in aerobic conditioning over a period of three months. In contrast, when previously sedentary individuals engaged in a two-month cycling or running programme, their fitness levels returned to baseline after just two months with no exercise.